It’s the end of another annus horribilis. Not for Anon, personally, though I will admit to a certain amount of melancholy. But, the rest of the world didn’t fare as well as even I did. There’s really no need to tick off the list; we all know where the problems are and continue to be. From Iraq to Afghanistan, from Dafur to Somalia, from Ukraine to the rest of the ‘Stans; the list just goes on and on.

At home, there’s the loss of habeus corpus and the general mucking about with the first 10 amendments to the Consitution, aka: the Bill o’ Rights. Evidently, Rights must be abrogated in order to preserve them (this goes along with the military philosophy used in Vietnam: you have to burn the village in order to save the village). As we search for the enemy, we can now look in the mirror to find him. For our fragile experiment of representational democracy it is ‘the darkest part of the longest night,’ and it’s time for clear-eyed honesty when looking into our souls for answers.

Then, there’s the environment. Now, I have a very selfish reason for worrying about global warming. Anon and the HB live on the central coast of California and it does concern me that we might end up with beachfront property within our lifetimes. I rather like having to walk to the beach, all 10 minutes of it.

Of course there’s pollution and energy. My own carbon footprint has gotten considerably smaller this year, but I’m only one person. I’ll keep biking and hope that you’ll join me. Ah, but there is no ‘hope.’ There only is what is. No deus ex machina will save us. No amount of magical thinking will change reality. So, I will continue to pedal and invite all of you to join me.

This picture is from many years ago. It symbolizes for me what certain festivities can do to people. You notice that the room is decorated. It’s bright and happy inside. On the outside, the luminarias light up the darkness. But the view is on the outside looking in. The warmth is on the inside. Everything wonderful and magical is on the inside.

This is the way it is for much of the world: on the outside looking in. The developing world is a place of which people in the post-industrialized world have no concept. Most Americans have taken as whole cloth the belief that we are somehow exceptional. So, in our hubris, we stubble into a foreign land; where we intend to show our overwhelming might. What we end up exposing is our Achilles’ heel for all the world to see.

I have long held the belief that hubris goes hand in hand with stupidity. After all, hubris requires a lack of self-doubt. Self-doubt is a much underrated attribute. It helps to keep a check on one’s soul, to keep from becoming complacent with one’s own abilities and beliefs.

So, we come ‘round again to this season of joy. We celebrate the birth of someone who, we believe, was pre-ordained to die. No only that, but he was pre-ordained to die for us. The joy is mixed with grief. The light is countered by the darkness. We all stand on the outside looking in to a mystery that we cannot explain. Perhaps next year will be an annus mirabilis, but don’t count on it.

Joyeux Noël,
Buon Natale,
Feliz Navidad y Buen Año Neuevo,

Please give what you can to Médecins sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders).

And, of course